They’re off… and runniiiing…
So goes the music to my ears, that booming voice of the race caller. For racing enthusiasts, there’s some kind of magic in hearing that line, signalling the start of a horse race.
Horse racing, as I’ve written in several comments, is the sports of the kings. It is a royal sports in the truest sense. Imagine, the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah F. was slated on Tuesday so as not to interfere with the Queen’s indulgence in the weekend races. I believe it is more for the love of horses than for gambling. The richest horse racing event is the Dubai Gold Cup where the Emir offers 10 million dollars to the winners. Of course, it is by invitation only and horses are mostly world-caliber, those who have won stakes races.
Here, in this part of the world called Philippines, horse racing is gaining fans because the races are covered live on cable TV, 5 days a week, from Wednesday until Sunday. Betting stations are all over the cities and one can bet from as low as 2 pesos (around 4 cents) that could win you up to a million pesos. Races are conducted every 30 minutes so there’s not much waiting time. Early betting is accepted so you have the luxury of waiting at home for every race.
The most popular events are the Daily Double and Forecast with a minimum of 5 pesos bet. For the Daily Double, one has to choose the likely winner in two consecutive races, meaning you win if both horses won in the 2 races you selected. For the Forecast, simply choose the likely winner and the likely second placer. There were a number of times that I won thousands with a 10-peso bet. That’s the bonus I get from my pastime.
As stated in Kitty’s review, horses need a lot of care. After the early morning workout they get a good bath, a thorough brushing and checking of shoes. Fodder mainly consists of imported oats (Australia or US) plus sweetener, vitamins and some other secret formula that only the trainer knows. Feeding is 3 times a day but for those kind of obese horses they only feed them once or twice. Of course, plenty of clean water to drink and a good ventilation too. Stables are cleaned of waste matter every once in a while and the sawdust is replaced daily. Yes, sawdust instead of soil or cement flooring to preserve the hooves. The groom takes care of all the dirty work. A race horse starts running at 2 years old and is allowed until the age of 11, applicable to mares and stallions.
There’s an exercise rider aside from the jockey. The trainer sets the workouts, logs the time of the practice runs and checks on the physical condition of the horses. He also handles the financials particularly the extra expenses like medicine and veterinary fees. Upon winning, the trainer, most of the times, collects the prize money and deducts whatever budget is intended for the regular expenses and gives the rest to the horse owner. The jockey gets 10% and the trainer also 10% of the winnings. The prize money of a regular race is a little below the buying cost of an ordinary race horse. So if it wins twice in a row then the investment had already been recouped.
Twenty years ago, there were 2 categories of races, one for the native horses and a special group for imported horses, mostly from New Zealand, Australia and US. I failed to notice the changes until a few months ago that native horses are nowhere to be seen. All race horses now are progenies of imported horses and the label imported horse only applies to horses born outside the Philippines. The record for the mile run is already comparable to the normal run times in other countries.
I could tell more but I guess the space is running out. For the uninitiated, I’d say try horse racing for experience, it’s better than going to the casino.